Brigid Featherstone and Amanda Boorman talk about their experiences of respite support and how it might be used to support birth families before a child is removed ... Read full piece at source: Redistributing care: why respite support should exist for struggling birth families, not just foster carers and adopters
ADCS President Stuart Gallimore writes about the many pressures LAs face ahead of Safeguarding Pressures Phase 6 research due to be published next month. 'We simply canāt go on as we are, the findings from this research must be heard and acted upon before itās too late'. Read at source:Ā Evidencing safeguarding pressures
This latest report by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory 'Born into care: Newborns in care proceedings in England', summary report October 2018 is a must read for all IROs. The report was funded by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory and written by a team of academics, using data provided by CAFCASS, the children and family … Continue reading Born into care
Emma Ing, Her Majestyās inspector and Ofstedās regional director for the East Midlands, asks:Ā what is safeguarding? Earlier this month, Ofsted inspectors, school leaders and local authority representatives gathered at the Leicester Racecourse and Conference Centre to discuss 'what is safeguarding?'. They heard first-hand from local and national safeguarding experts about a range of problems, from … Continue reading Safeguarding is about culture, not box-ticking | Ofsted blog
The Local Government Association on Monday called on the Treasury to carry out a full assessment of āgrowing funding gapsā across the sector. A report by the National Audit Office in March said there 49% reduction in government funding for councils between 2010-11 and 2017-18. https://twitter.com/jomillerdonny/status/1047379558813585408 https://twitter.com/jomillerdonny/status/1047355481004621824 Read full piece at source:Ā Treasury minister accused of … Continue reading LGA calls on the Treasury to carry out a full assessment of “growing funding gaps”
British police and intelligence agencies are using children as spies in covert operations against terrorists, gangs and drug dealers. A committee of the House of Lords revealed the practice in a reportĀ heard by the House of Lords Scrutiny Committee in July 2018. The report raised alarm over plans to give law enforcement bodies more freedom … Continue reading Child spies: use of juveniles as covert human intelligence sources
Councils are calling on the chancellor to use the autumn Budget to tackle the immediate funding crisis for local government in 2019/20, and to deliver a sustainable funding settlement for local government in the forthcoming spending review. It comes after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said in a damming reportĀ that budget cuts hadĀ left a number … Continue reading Local councils at risk of bankruptcy
The All Party Parliamentary Group for Childrenās (APPGC) first Inquiry report into the state of childrenās social care in England, No Good Options (March 2017), shone a light on a struggling system. The Inquiry also found that approaches to policy and practice varied across the country, with children, young people and families receiving different levels … Continue reading The state of children’s social care in England
Law Society publishes LASPO review subsmission Public access to the justice system has never been so restricted, the Law Society has warned as it filedĀ its submission to government, highlighting the "devastating consequences" of cuts to publicly funded legal advice. In its response to the Ministry of Justice's review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and … Continue reading Access to justice increasingly only for the few, Law Society warns ministers
Human trafficking or modern slavery is one of the most appalling forms of criminal activity today. Itās also one of the most widespread and fastest-growing. The International Labour Organisation believes that at any one time at least 40.3 million people around the world are being coerced into a situation of exploitation or made toĀ workā¦ Read … Continue reading Human trafficking: is our system for combating it fit for purpose? ā UK Human Rights Blog
